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Who Dey Revolution Manifesto

Preamble

IN THIS TIME of perpetual Cincinnati Bengals incompetence and futility, with zero playoff wins in the nineteen seasons since the WhoDeyRevolution Godfather, Paul Brown, passed away in 1991 and handed the team to his fortunate son, the Despot, Mike Brown;

Introduction

WE, the members of the Who Dey Revolution, in our fervent dedication to the Cincinnati Bengals and fanatical desire to transform our hometown team into perpetual Super Bowl contenders, call for a popular revolution of fans to demand comprehensive reform to the managerial decisions and approach of Cincinnati Bengals ownership, management, staff and players, and hereby call for the adoption of the following Who Dey Revolution Manifesto:

Manifesto Demands

THAT the Mike Brown, Katie Blackburn, Marvin Lewis, along with every other member of the Bengals management, staff and personnel, state publicly to all Bengals fans, “I will do everything in my power to help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl;”

THAT Mike Brown will hire a general manager, drastically expand the scouting department and relinquish all control of player personnel;

THAT all training, rehabilitation and medical facilities are considered best-in-class compared to other NFL teams;

THAT the management fill the team only with players who fit the system, both mentally and physically, and are not reluctant to makes changes to player personnel when needed, regardless of cost or loyalty concerns;

THAT offensive and defensive line depth is considered the top priority for all player personnel decisions;

THAT all decisions made by ownership, management, staff and players, both on and off the field, are judged only by this criterion: “Does this help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl?”

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July 27, 2010

Quick Thoughts on TO Signing

After much speculation, Terrell Owens has agreed to terms with the Bengals and is expected to make if official on Thursday. TO is receiving a base salary of $2M with another $2M coming in incentives. As Mike Florio writes: "Owens needs to improve across the board from his 2009 numbers to reach
his incentives, although we'd classify half of his $2 million in
incentives as realistic. According to a league source, Owens will get
$333,333 each if he reaches the following benchmarks: 60 catches, 900
yards, and ten touchdowns.

Owens caught 55 passes for 829 yards and five scores last year while catching passes in a dreadful passing attack in Buffalo."

The Good:

TO has the unwavering support of both Carson and Chad. This is a cordial relationship, so far.

Sleeping with Bienemy brought this up: For someone who doesn't live in Cincinnati and has to deal with 16 Cowboys games a year on TV, the TO signing will guarantee that the Bengals will receive much more national media attention and will likely push more Bengals games into being the national games of the week.

Is the Jerome Simpson Experiment over? If you expect the Bengals to keep 7 WRs, with TO, the top 6 WRs on the depth chart should look like this: OchoCinco, TO, Bryant, Shipley, Caldwell, Quan Cosby. That leaves means that out of Matt Jones, Simpson and Maurice Purify, only one will make the final 53 man roster.

The contract is structured with significant incentives.

The Bad:

As Florio writes, the incentives could go against the Bengals if TO becomes upset at not getting enough looks. He comes in as the #2 to Chad - can he preform in that role?

Regardless of what Chad, Carson and Mr. Brown say, it is never clear no one can predict how TO will act when he is under contract. Will be he a veteran presence in the locker room or a team cancer?

Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Matt Jones and now TO all on the same team. As Simmons just tweeted: "@sportsguy33 The VH1 Bengals!!! Can they sign Dr. Drew as the punter?" It just doesn't feel like the Bengals will get through this season without proving the stereotype.

Because I don't want to do the research, what are some examples from the past (in all sports, but NFL examples preferred) of TO like signings that have worked? Big name, aging veteran who is not known as being the best teammate being signed by a team and having it work out?

Comments

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"Because I don't want to do the research, what are some examples from the past (in all sports, but NFL examples preferred) of TO like signings that have worked? Big name, aging veteran who is not known as being the best teammate being signed by a team and having it work out?"

@ Mockenrue - great point. Do you think his success in NE was due to Belichick and the winning culture in NE and that forced Corey to change his ways? I worry that TO won't have the same motivation to get his act together when Chad is acting up on the other side of the field.

I can't think of anything like it. We have 3 players on our team with their own fucking tv shows. It's wild.

And we haven't even discussed the guys with actual rap sheets. My take: it's so obvious this should be a headcase disaster it won't be. I just wish we would have bet on head case Brandon Marshall originally instead of Bryant. But whatever.

I know that I was one of the largest TO supporters early on with this mess, but if Byant's knees are playing into this look at yet another reciever, then you have to consider that while TO may not be the answer, there is definately something in the locker-room driving this re-evaluation of the top three receivers. So here are some positive assumptions:

- Mike Brown may actually be trying (as hard as Mikey tries) to win a play-off game or maybe even a Super Bowl. He has already paid out the ass on recievers and he is still ponying up money... albeit still a bargain player at this point.
- Brat offense of next year is a return to the shot-gun / play action. Why would he need the reciever corps from Vallhala if he wasn't?
- The Cory Dillon Effect. Its a long shot, but TO has been snubed by every team in the league! If his reality tv show is any indicator, his personal life is not exactly 'riding the wave' anymore either. Granted Chad is still Chad and the Bengals aren't the Pats, but maybe this is just what TO needs to be 'redeemed' if not full-blow saved? He did say that he would cut his salary in half to play for the Bengals. I'm not sure what that says, but it says something...

However, the orange-clad cynic in me has two glaring concerns.
- IF Bryant is not 100%, then TO is being looked at as a last minute replacement and not an extention of the offence. The picture changes considerably from Ocho/Bryant at wide out, TO at slot, and Gresham in TE to a Ocho/TO at wide out, Shipley at slot, and Gresham in TE. Its not bad, but I don't know if its enough in the AFC North.
- The Return of Pacman. I genuinely think that Adam is going to contribute to the Bengals in a sick Cedric Benson-like way this season. However, like a recovering alcoholic, putting him next door to a bar isn't the greatest idea. This is my metaphor for TO and Jone in the same locker-room... possibly. God, I hope not.

Bottomline: huge gamble. Further, I'm not sure if we need it? But if Bryant is a question mark in anyway, and we want a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl, then then I reluctantly say pull the trigger. Sign him.

I'm not sold on it, but I'm hopeful that it'll work. In terms of signings like TO in other sports, Rodman to the Bulls worked out pretty well, as well as Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons and Ron Artest to the Lakers. I don't watch much baseball outside of the Redlegs, but now that the Yankees have won the World Series again, I guess you could say signing Gay-Rod finally paid off - that's probably the most apt comparison I can think of: Jeter:A-Rod::Chad:TO, only without the extra years to wait to actually see a championship.

-You guys have all brought up the outlandish examples, but less obvious ones include Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen going to the Cardinals. Rolen going to the Reds.
-Randy Moss going to the Patriots works too.

To be honest, the Bengals seem to have a balance of egomaniac guys who are obnoxious(T-O, OCHO, Kyle Cook) and guys who seem mild mannered but have long rap sheets(Benson, PacMan, Tank). I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but the trouble T.O causes won't really impact whatever trouble PacMan causes.

Brosef - I think it was clear that Corey just wanted to win a championship, and knew that during his career it would never happen with the Bengals, due to what he saw going on behind the scenes. Houshmandzadeh left for the same reasons. Housh is still doing a bit of moaning, but Corey went to the defending Super Bowl champs, and Housh went to the Seattle Seahawks. There's a big divide there. I do believe ultimately it comes down to a desire to win. T.O. has done everything in his career other than win a title. I believe, and hope I'm right, that his coming to Cincinnati is an indication that he feels the Bengals have a reasonable chance to win a Super Bowl (at least as much as other teams that might have signed him), and that he wants to actually enjoy the twilight of his career by partnering up with an off-the-field friend. I think if that's the attitude (I want to win at any cost and have fun while playing instead of constant drama), the addition is sound and we will see the move "work out."

Jerry Rice is easily the most obvious example.
Went to the Raiders at age 39 and had 83 catches, 1139 yards and 9 TDs
The next year, at 40, he had 92 catches, 1211 yards, and 7 TDs and went to the Super Bowl with the Raiders going 5/77/1 in that game.

This was after his last year in SF (at age 38) where he he had only 75/805/7 which were declining numbers by his standards.

Was Jerry Rice ever perceived as a team cancer though? That's the crux of it. It's not just older guys playing well, but older guys who are supposed team-destroyers going somewhere and playing well whilst simultaneously dropping the negative image. I don't recall Rice being any kind of cancer during his career.